An ongoing dialogue on HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases,
March 13th, 2024
CROI 2024 Denver: Really Rapid Review
One of the most rewarding things about social media in medicine is tapping into the minds of other smart people in your field, especially people you can’t otherwise interact with on a day-to-day basis. When that person is someone like Dr. Sébastien Poulin — a funny and indefatigable ID/HIV doctor from Montreal — it’s especially worthwhile. […]
March 2nd, 2024
Just as CROI Gets Ready to Start, an Important Change to the IAS-USA HIV Treatment Guidelines
One of the top experiences of my ID career has been working with a research group that does HIV disease modeling. The people involved are without exception smart, collaborative, generous, funny, and hard-working — an amazing combination of positive traits. They get this, I believe, from their leader and founder, Dr. Ken Freedberg, who sets a […]
October 31st, 2023
HIV Research Highlights from IDWeek 2023
Having already featured an important non-HIV clinical research study from IDWeek — the amazing ACORN trial — I turn now to a grab bag of HIV-related studies, a veritable Halloween treat bag full of them. (Note to self: What’s with that “Halloween treat bag” reference? Couldn’t you come up with a less awkward way to link […]
October 8th, 2023
An October ID (and Non-ID) Link-o-Rama
For those venturing next week to IDWeek here in Boston, fall gives us our very best weather. Comfortable sunny days with brilliant blue skies, cool evenings, low humidity — great weather for exercising and sleeping. Usually you just need a light jacket. And now, after one of the rainiest Septembers on record (boo!), October has […]
September 22nd, 2023
Long-Acting Cabotegravir-Rilpivirine for People Not Taking Oral Therapy — Time to Modify Treatment Guidelines?
HIV treatment guidelines are understandably reluctant to endorse practices that have limited data. Having served on two such panels (previously, DHHS and currently, the IAS-USA guidelines), I totally get this — you don’t want to put a stamp of approval on strategies that may ultimately do more harm than good. With the caveat that I cannot […]
August 9th, 2023
Really Rapid Review — Brisbane IAS 2023
You’ll find some conference highlights listed below from the 12th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (or IAS 2023), which took place in lovely Brisbane — where the late July weather was delightful, the ubiquitous ibis was the local nuisance bird, and the riverside parks went on and on and on. Some might wonder if […]
July 26th, 2023
REPRIEVE Trial Highlights Shift in HIV Care from ID to General Medicine
The biggest news this week at the 12th IAS Conference on HIV Science here in Brisbane, Australia, was the results of REPRIEVE, a large randomized clinical trial conducted in people with HIV. It’s not a study of novel antiretroviral regimens, or of treatment or prevention of opportunistic infections, or of an HIV eradication strategy using […]
July 5th, 2023
The Yin and the Yang of Cabotegravir-Rilpivirine: Part Two, the Limitations
In the last post, I cited examples of patients who are doing much better now because they are on long-acting cabotegravir-rilpivirine (CAB-RPV). One of these patients said he preferred it because it’s “simpler,” by which he meant he no longer had to go to the pharmacy to refill his medications each month. I’ll grant for him […]
June 30th, 2023
The Yin and the Yang of Cabotegravir-Rilpivirine: Part One, the Good News
Long-acting cabotegravir-rilpivirine (CAB-RPV) is the biggest advance in HIV therapeutics in years. It’s also creating quite the challenge for ID and HIV clinicians, which makes its availability a fascinating example of the importance of education, patient communication, and shared decision-making. This post will be the good news about this groundbreaking treatment; in the next post, I’ll […]
June 2nd, 2023
Continued Activity of NRTIs Despite Resistance Is a Real Thing
In our last post, we reviewed a case of a person with longstanding HIV with extensive multi-class resistance, but now a decade of viral suppression. They’re currently on an HIV treatment regimen of fully active raltegravir, partially active etravirine, and barely active (or not active at all!) darunavir. There are no NRTIs in the regimen, […]